5. The present moment in the development of the international communist movement is characterized by the fact that in the vast majority of capitalist countries the preparation of the proletariat for the implementation of its dictatorship has not been completed – very often it has not even been systematically begun. From this it does not follow that proletarian revolution is impossible in the immediate future; it is entirely possible, because the entire economic and political situation is extraordinarily rich in combustible materials and occasions for their sudden ignition; another condition for revolution besides the preparedness of the proletariat – namely: the general state of crisis in all ruling and all bourgeois parties – is also present. But from what has been said it follows that the task of the moment for communist parties now consists not in accelerating revolution, but in intensifying the preparation of the proletariat. On the other hand, the cases mentioned above in the history of many socialist parties compel us to pay attention to ensuring that "recognition" of the dictatorship of the proletariat cannot remain merely verbal.

Therefore, the main task of communist parties, from the standpoint of international proletarian movement, at the present moment is to rally the scattered communist forces, to form in each country a single communist party (or to strengthen and renew an already existing party) for tenfold increase in work on preparing the proletariat for the conquest of state power and precisely for the conquest of power in the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The ordinary socialist work of groups and parties recognizing the dictatorship of the proletariat has far from undergone the fundamental transformation, the fundamental renewal, which are necessary for this work to be recognized as communist and corresponding to the tasks of the eve of proletarian dictatorship.

6. The conquest of political power by the proletariat does not terminate its class struggle against the bourgeoisie, but, on the contrary, makes this struggle exceptionally broad, acute, and merciless. All groups, parties, and activists of the workers' movement, fully or partly standing on the point of view of reformism, "centrism," and so forth, will inevitably, owing to the extreme sharpening of struggle, either take the side of the bourgeoisie, or fall into the ranks of the waverers, or (what is most dangerous) end up among the unreliable friends of victorious proletariat. Therefore, preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat requires not only intensification of struggle against reformist and "centrist" tendencies, but also a change in the character of this struggle. The struggle cannot be confined to clarifying the erroneous nature of these tendencies, but must relentlessly and mercilessly expose every activist within the workers' movement who manifests these tendencies, for otherwise the proletariat cannot know with whom it will wage the most decisive struggle against the bourgeoisie. This struggle is such that at any moment it may replace – and has already replaced, as experience has shown – the criticism of arms with armed criticism{80}. Any inconsistency or weakness in exposing those who reveal themselves as reformists or "centrists" means direct increase in the danger of the overthrow of proletarian power by the bourgeoisie, which will use tomorrow for counter-revolution what appears to shortsighted people as merely a "theoretical disagreement" today.

7. In particular, one cannot confine oneself to the usual principled denial of any cooperation of the proletariat with the bourgeoisie, any "collaborationism." Simple defence of "freedom" and "equality," with the preservation of private property in the means of production, is transformed in the conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat, which will never be able to destroy private property completely at once, – is transformed into "cooperation" with the bourgeoisie, directly undermining the power of the working class. For the dictatorship of the proletariat means the state consolidation and protection by the entire apparatus of state power of the "unfreedom" for the exploiter to continue his work of oppression and exploitation, and the "inequality" of the proprietor (i.e., one who has appropriated for himself certain means of production created by social labour) with the propertyless. What appears before the victory of the proletariat as only a theoretical disagreement on the question of "democracy" inevitably becomes tomorrow, after victory, a question that is decided by force of arms. Consequently, without a fundamental change in the entire character of struggle with the "centrists" and "defenders of democracy," even the preliminary preparation of the masses for the implementation of the dictatorship of the proletariat is impossible.

8. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the most decisive and revolutionary form of the class struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. Such a struggle can be successful only when the most revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat leads the overwhelming majority of it. Preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat therefore requires not only clarification of the bourgeois character of all reformism, all defence of democracy with the preservation of private property in the means of production; not only exposure of manifestations of such tendencies, which in fact mean conducting the defence of the bourgeoisie within the workers' movement, – but also requires the replacement of old leaders with communists in absolutely all types of proletarian organizations, not only political but also trade union, cooperative, educational, and so forth. The longer and more complete and stable was the rule of bourgeois democracy in a given country, the more successful has the bourgeoisie been in placing at the posts of such leaders those educated by it, imbued with its views and prejudices, and very often directly or indirectly bribed by it. It is necessary a hundred times more boldly than hitherto to drive these representatives of the labour aristocracy or embourgeoisified workers from all their posts and replace them even with the most inexperienced workers, provided only that they are connected with the exploited masses and enjoy their confidence in the struggle against the exploiters. The dictatorship of the proletariat will require the appointment of such inexperienced workers to the most responsible state posts; otherwise the power of a workers' government will be impotent and will not be supported by the masses.

9. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the fullest realization of the leadership of all the toiling and exploited, who are oppressed, downtrodden, crushed, intimidated, fragmented, deceived by the class of capitalists, by the only class prepared for such a leading role by the whole history of capitalism. Therefore, preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat must be begun everywhere and immediately by means, among other things, of the following procedure.

In all without exception organizations, unions, associations, first and foremost proletarian, and then also of non-proletarian toiling and exploited masses (political, trade union, military, cooperative, educational, sports and so on, and so forth) must be formed groups or cells of communists – predominantly open, but also secret, mandatory in each such case where one must presume their closure, arrest, or expulsion of their members by the bourgeoisie; – and these cells, closely linked among themselves and with the centre of the party, exchanging their experience, carrying out work of agitation, propaganda, organization, applying themselves decisively to all spheres of social life, decisively to all varieties and subdivisions of the toiling masses, must systematically educate through such many-sided work both themselves, the party, the class, and the masses.

In this connection it is extremely important practically to develop the necessary distinction in the methods of all work, on the one hand – in relation to the "leaders" or to "responsible representatives," often hopelessly corrupted by petty-bourgeois and imperialist prejudices; these "leaders" must be relentlessly exposed and expelled from the workers' movement; – on the other hand, in relation to the masses, who, especially after the imperialist butchery, are mostly inclined to listen to and accept the teaching of the necessity of the leadership of the proletariat as the only way out of capitalist slavery; toward the masses one must learn to approach with particular patience and caution, in order to be able to understand the peculiarities, the distinctive features of the psychology of each stratum, profession, and so forth of these masses.

10. In particular, one group or cell of communists deserves the exceptional attention and care of the party, namely: the parliamentary fraction, i.e., the group of party members serving as deputies in the bourgeois representative institution (first and foremost the general state, then also local, municipal, and so forth). On the one hand, precisely this tribune has especially important significance in the eyes of the broadest strata of backward or imbued with petty-bourgeois prejudices toiling masses; therefore communists are obligated precisely from this tribune to conduct work of propaganda, agitation, organization, explanation to the masses of why it was inevitable in Russia (and will be inevitable in its time in any country) to dissolve the bourgeois parliament by the all-national congress of Soviets. On the other hand, the entire history of bourgeois democracy has turned the parliamentary tribune, especially in advanced countries, into the main or one of the main arenas of unprecedented swindling, financial and political deception of the people, careerism, hypocrisy, oppression of the toiling masses. Therefore the burning hatred of parliaments on the part of the best representatives of revolutionary proletariat is entirely justified. Therefore on the part of communist parties and all parties adhering to the Third International, – especially in those cases where these parties have arisen not through a split with old parties and prolonged, stubborn struggle against them, but through the transition (often merely nominal) of old parties to a new position, – it is necessary to take an exceptionally strict attitude toward one's parliamentary fractions: complete subordination to the control and directives of the Party Central Committee; inclusion in their composition predominantly of revolutionary workers; the most careful analysis in the party press and at party meetings of the speeches of parliamentarians from the standpoint of their communist steadfastness; sending deputies on agitational work among the masses; expulsion from these fractions of those who manifest the tendencies of the Second International, and so forth.

11. One of the chief causes making difficult the revolutionary workers' movement in the developed capitalist countries consists in the fact that, thanks to colonial possessions and super-profits of financial capital and so forth, capital has succeeded here in singling out a comparatively broader and more stable layer of a small minority of the labour aristocracy. It enjoys better conditions of earnings and is most impregnated with the spirit of narrow-mindedness, petty-bourgeois and imperialist prejudices. This is the genuine social "mainstay" of the Second International, of reformists and "centrists," and at the present moment it is hardly not the chief social mainstay of the bourgeoisie. No even preliminary preparation of the proletariat for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie is possible without immediate, systematic, broad, open struggle with this stratum, which will undoubtedly – as this has been fully proved by experience – provide not a few elements for the bourgeois white guard after the victory of the proletariat. All parties adhering to the Third International must by all means put into practice the slogan: "deeper into the masses," "closer ties with the masses," – understanding by masses the whole aggregate of the toiling and exploited by capital, especially the least organized and enlightened, the most oppressed and least accessible to organization.

The proletariat becomes revolutionary only insofar as it does not shut itself within narrow craft limits, insofar as it appears in all manifestations and on all arenas of social life as the leader of all the toiling and exploited masses, and the implementation of its dictatorship is impossible without its readiness and ability to make the greatest sacrifices for victory over the bourgeoisie. And both the principled and practical significance in this regard is possessed by the experience of Russia, where the proletariat could not have implemented its dictatorship, could not have won universal recognition and the confidence of all the toiling masses, if it had not made the greatest sacrifices and had not suffered from hunger more than all other strata of these masses during the most difficult times of the onslaught, war, and blockade by world bourgeoisie.

In particular, comprehensive and self-sacrificing support by the communist party and all the advanced proletariat is especially necessary in relation to the broad, spontaneous, mass strike movement, which alone is capable, under the oppression of capital, properly to awaken, rouse, enlighten, and organize the masses, to cultivate in them complete confidence in the leading role of revolutionary proletariat. Without such preparation no dictatorship of the proletariat is possible, and people capable of appearing publicly against strikes, like Kautsky in Germany, Turati in Italy, are absolutely intolerable in the ranks of parties adhering to the Third International. This applies even more, of course, to those trade-union and parliamentary leaders who often betray the workers, teaching them from the experience of strikes reformism rather than revolution (for example, in England and France in recent years).

12. For all countries, even the most free, "legal," and "peaceful" in the sense of the least sharpening of class struggle, the time has fully come when it is absolutely necessary for every communist party to combine systematically legal and illegal work, legal and illegal organization. For even in the most enlightened and free countries, with the most "stable" bourgeois-democratic system, governments are already resorting systematically, contrary to their lying and hypocritical declarations, to maintaining secret lists of communists, to endless violations of their own constitutions for semi-secret and secret support of white guards and the murder of communists in all countries, to secret preparation of arrests of communists, to introducing provocateurs into the ranks of communists, and so forth and so on. Only the most reactionary philistinism, however much it may be masked by beautiful "democratic" and pacifist phrases, can deny this fact or the obligatory conclusion from it: the immediate formation by all legal communist parties of illegal organizations for systematic illegal work and complete preparation for the moment of revelation of bourgeois persecution. Particularly necessary is illegal work in the army, navy, and police, for after the great imperialist butchery all governments in the world have become afraid of a popular army, open to peasants and workers, and have begun to resort secretly to every variety of methods for selection of specially selected units composed of bourgeoisie and specially equipped with especially improved military technology.

On the other hand, it is also necessary in absolutely all cases not to confine oneself to illegal work, but to conduct legal work as well, overcoming for this all difficulties, establishing legal organs of the press and legal organizations under the most diverse and, if necessary, frequently changing names. This is what illegal communist parties are doing in Finland, Hungary, in part in Germany, in Poland, in Latvia, and so forth. This is what the "Industrial Workers of the World" (I.W.W.) in America should be doing; this is what all now legal communist parties will have to do if it pleases the prosecutors to institute persecutions on the basis of resolutions of congresses of the Communist International and so forth.

The absolute principled necessity of combining illegal and legal work is determined not only by the whole aggregate of peculiarities of the period being experienced, the eve of proletarian dictatorship, but also by the necessity of proving to the bourgeoisie that there is not and cannot be any sphere and arena of work that communists have not conquered, and above all by the fact that everywhere there are still broad strata of proletariat, and even more of non-proletarian toiling and exploited masses, who still trust in bourgeois-democratic legality and whose disabusal is for us a matter of utmost importance.

13. In particular, the state of the workers' press in the most advanced capitalist countries especially strikingly demonstrates both all the falsity of freedom and equality under bourgeois democracy and the necessity of systematic combination of legal and illegal work. Both in defeated Germany and in victorious America all the force of the state apparatus of the bourgeoisie and all the machinations of its financial kings are put into operation to rob the workers of their press: judicial persecutions, arrests (or murder by hired assassins) of editors, prohibition of mail transmission, confiscation of paper, and so forth and so on. In addition, the information material necessary for a daily newspaper is in the hands of bourgeois telegraph agencies, and advertising, without which a major newspaper cannot pay for itself, is at the "free" disposal of capitalists. As a result, the bourgeoisie, through deception, the pressure of capital and the bourgeois state, robs revolutionary proletariat of its press.

To struggle against this, communist parties must create a new type of periodic press for mass distribution among workers: first, legal publications which have learned, without calling themselves communist and without speaking of their party affiliation, to use every bit of legality, as the Bolsheviks did under the tsar after 1905; second, illegal leaflets, even if in the smallest format and irregularly issued, but reprinted in a mass of printshops by workers (secretly or, if the movement has grown strong, through revolutionary seizure of printshops) and giving the proletariat free, revolutionary information and revolutionary slogans.

Without the engaging of the masses in revolutionary struggle for the freedom of communist press, preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat is impossible.